of a black man, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police shone a light on racism in America. It also caused black immigrants to wonder if America's ideals of freedom and opportunity could be realized.
Joseph Edghill, 65, has lived in the United States for nearly half a century, but the past few years have felt very different.
Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, he followed his mother to America at the age of 17 to attend university and earn a living in a place he considered a land of prosperity.
He remembers his native country as a mixture of races, where school and other aspects of daily life were well integrated.
But in America, it seems "it was very different. The notion of race was very much in the news and we heard about it so often
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Very early on, he knowingly avoided getting involved.
"I wanted to succeed despite race," he told the BBC. "If anyone else had problems with my race, that was their problem."
Then, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd - an unarmed African American - was murdered by police in Minnesota.
Footage of the incident, in which an officer knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, stunned the world and brought millions of protesters - including Mr Edghill - to the streets.
"It's the first time I've come out and protested something," he says.
"Floyd, that was the first time I felt it could be me."
Joseph Edghill
Joseph Edghill moved to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago in 1974.
Joseph Edghill is part of a growing population of black immigrants in America.
Although the majority of black Americans are the descendants of slaves brought to the United States, one in ten – nearly five million in total – were not born in the United States but came here to find a better life, according to the latest data from the Pew Research Center.
Projections from the United States Census Bureau suggest that the black immigrant population will more than double by 2060.
And while many are happy in their adopted home, Floyd's death and other incidents of anti-black violence have shaken the faith of some in the ideals that America stands for.
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The death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old young man who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo with his family almost eight years ago to reach the United States, is another recent case that has struck a chord.
Last month, Patrick Lyoya was fatally shot in the back of the head by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during a routine traffic stop.
The images broadcast during the incident show Patrick Lyoya and a policeman fighting on the ground. According to police, the officer fired his Taser twice, but failed to hit Mr. Lyoya. The footage shows the policeman asking Lyoya to "drop the Taser" several times before firing the fatal shot.
Reacting to the video of the encounter, his parents said they were shocked that their eldest was "killed like an animal" in their adopted country, which was supposed to be a "safe haven".
Patrick Lyoya added that he "did not know" that the police could commit an "execution". Police department officials rejected that characterization, saying the officer "has a legal right to protect himself and the community in a dangerous and volatile situation such as this."
But for some, Mr. Lyoya's death is the worst-case scenario for how black and brown-skinned immigrants live in America.
Silvia Holt said she understood what it was like to be in a new country and be afraid of the police.
His parents, migrant workers, left the miserable living conditions of Guadalajara, Mexico, and smuggled him across the border to California when he was nine months old. She became a citizen at the age of 12.
Based in rural Oroville, Ms. Holt, now 43, accompanied her parents in grueling agricultural work.
"While working in the fields, my mother always advised me never to run away, because then you become suspicious," she says.
"The people who ran away were the ones who were kicked out, caught, bruised."
The father of Ms Holt's son, Timothy, is African American, and she sees his fear, like hers, of the police, she told the BBC.
Silvia Holt and her son Timmy
Silvia Holt talks to her son Timmy about the lessons to be learned from the "ugliness" of society.
When they were pulled over for a traffic problem when he was five years old, he asked, "Is the policeman going to hurt me?"
Mr Lyoya was a refugee with an obvious language barrier who might not have known better at the time than to flee, Ms Holt said.
"It's amazing that a traffic control ends in the death of a person".
The police officer who shot Mr Lyoya is currently on paid administrative leave, and local prosecutors are expected to issue a decision soon on whether he should be fired and charged with a crime.
Some black immigrants have felt particularly targeted since the mass shootings this month in Buffalo, New York.